Survival is FUN

Enduring mockery from others was part of their daily routine. Upon asking their mom and dad why the world was so mean, their parents’ response did not reassure them. The children were perplexed when their dad barked back, “The world is tough and you’ve got to be tough and strong!” The little girl asked her brother, “Does that mean we have to fight?”

As they grew older and started to gain some insight into why others seemed to relish the negativity they poured towards them, a sense of compassion grew for those very folks. As young teenagers, they had already developed a concrete bond and independence that was well beyond their years.

They chose not to see everything as harsh and felt that they could be the change that made a difference. The young man began to delve into the thoughts and writings of some of the great thinkers of the past. He exclaimed to his sister that “pressure creates diamonds.” She smiled, recognizing the profundity of this ideal.

In school she read about Anne Frank and Helen Keller: two remarkable women that easily could have fallen prey to the negative mindset that so universally prevails. Contrasting their negative environments, both of these ladies were guiding lights for millions of individuals who used their words to raise consciousness and supersede obstacles in desperate times. Their influence is still felt generations later.

As they drew closer to adulthood, the siblings recognized that the most angry and belligerent individuals among them were those with the most awful diets and lifestyle habits. They had noticed many

of the great thinkers they admired had chosen to consume plant-based, compassionate diets.

This made embracing plant foods an easy choice to further enrich their lives. Within weeks, both of their young bodies began to flourish and gain an almost mystical strength that somehow opened their awareness to a greater vista. They no longer felt physically depleted and frail and gained emotional strength that was a surprise to them.

Somehow the people that they schooled with and met socially began to notice the different attitude coming from them. The teenagers withheld the particulars about their food choices unless more information was requested.

One cold February evening as they sat by the fire, they explored their past. Each remarked as to how fortunate they were to have grown up in an unconventional way. They commented on those they knew who had fallen to the wayside since they no longer “fit the mold” of who these peers thought they should be.

The young man had a revelation and spilled it out: “We created ourselves so that we were not injured by poor self-image.” His sister laughed and said, “It is our imagination that has protected us and saved us from the tyranny of the unhappy.”

As each went off to different universities and left the nurturing of each other’s support and love, they had to learn to thrive on their own. At first there were daily calls, but soon they began to acknowledge that other like-minded people were coming into their sphere of friendships.

Growth, joy, and passionate camaraderie were the result of the finely created positivity they had cultivated since early childhood. In a conversation with her brother she commented, “Birds of a feather really do flock together.” He laughed and said, “This is why you can go as far and as wide as your heart desires once you believe in yourself.”

They both attended, achieved and flourished in graduate schools and now were fully anointed as adults who were in the workplace. He chose his path as a professor of philosophy and she went on to become an alternative physician. Since he lived in Switzerland and she in California, they would only have the opportunity to be together rarely on holidays.

When they reached their 40s and were living extraordinarily, with great confidence and joy, they decided they should write a book together to help others to find the bright path back to themselves. They each realized that all of us possess an abounding potential in creating an exceptional existence.

They went back and forth for months on what the title of their book should be. And finally, one early July morning when he was visiting from Europe with his wife and three children, they settled upon “Surviving Survival,” subtitled “It is not enough to minimize; you require expansiveness.”

The moral of this story is that you have to manifest a life of abundance, happiness, compassion and success. Your imagination can bind with uncompromising commitment, fulfillment and integrity. This synergy will create the life of your dreams.

Survival is not enough. As humans living on this green planet, we must embrace the possibility that everything that is needed is available and we do not have to worry, hoard, defend or compromise.

When becoming your authentic self, life will be good; and your existence will be good for all others of the earth and the multiple universes of which we are all a part.